A.F.U.W.S.A.

The Australian Federation of University Women – South Australia (AFUW-SA) Inc. Trust Fund annually awards over $100,000 in bursaries to assist people who are undertaking tertiary studies at Australian universities.

Most of the bursaries are aimed at people undertaking PhDs or Masters degrees, either by research or coursework. The Padnendadlu bursaries, which are specifically for Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander Australian women studying at South Australian universities, include bursaries for women studying at undergraduate, graduate diploma and higher degree levels.

The following responses to FAQs should answer some of your queries about the bursaries offered by our organisation. For further information not addressed here, please talk to the Scholarships Officer at your university or write to the above address.

NOTE: forms on this site are current from September – February inclusive, with closing date for applications being 1st March each year or the closest following working day.

If you are:

(a) doing a postgraduate degree by coursework at any university in Australia (women only) or South Australia (men and women); or
(b) doing a postgraduate degree by research at any university in Australia (women only) or South Australia (men and women) and have completed one year of research; or
(c) an Indigenous Australian woman undertaking subjects for the final year of a Bachelor degree, or undertaking an Honours year, or a Graduate Diploma or Graduate Certificate at a university in South Australia

you may be eligible to apply for at least one bursary, and possibly more.
Click on eligibility criteria to see a summary sheet, or check the answers given on this page to find out which bursaries you are eligible for. The sheet eligibility criteria also gives info on a postgraduate dental bursary (students eligible for the undergraduate dental bursary are invited to apply by the University of Adelaide Dental School).

(a) You can download application forms from this web site. Note that application forms may change from time to time, so it is best to check the dates on the forms before downloading them. They will usually have been updated by late October, if not earlier. If you know which bursary form(s) you require, click on the relevant name(s) below:

(b) You can obtain application forms from Scholarships Offices at most campuses of Australian universities, from September onwards each year.

(c) You can write to the following address from September onwards each year: The AFUW-SA Inc. Trust Fund, GPO Box 634, Adelaide SA 5001.

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The short answer is ‘no’. All of the people involved in The AFUW-SA Inc. Trust Fund bursary scheme, either raising the funds or selecting the bursary winners, are volunteers doing this work in their spare time. For some years we have been paying a secretarial service to handle routine correspondence, as the workload became too great for any of the volunteers to handle. Any money used to pay for the secretarial service to handle additional facilities, such as faxes or emails, would mean that less money would be available for bursaries.

The short answer is ‘no’. Hopefully you will be able to find all of the information you need either on the double-sided information page at the front of each application form, or on this web site. The trustees of The AFUW-SA Inc. Trust Fund, and the people who participate in the selection committees, are all people who voluntarily donate time to do this work, sometimes only for a couple of months in a year, so no-one’s telephone number can be made publicly available.

The items which must accompany your application are described on the information sheet at the front of the application form. The usual enclosures required for postgraduate bursary applications are given below in items a)-d). For other bursary applications, please check the relevant form.

a) Evidence of enrolment at the institution at which you will obtain your postgraduate qualification. Evidence of an offer of a place is not sufficient.
b) Certified copies of official transcripts of academic records covering all undergraduate and postgraduate work completed to date. An interpretation of the grades on academic records (as supplied by the awarding institution) is also required. If records are in any language other than English, please provide a certified translation. (Note that if originals of documents are sent they will not be returned; unsuccessful applications are destroyed within 2 months of the bursaries being awarded.)
c) Curriculum vitae, including employment record; education and training history; a list of prizes or awards held during your tertiary studies, giving place of study, dates and values; a list of published work (refereed journal articles, books, chapters, news articles or exhibitions); conference presentations; service to the professional community; and service to the community at large.
d) If you are not an Australian or New Zealand citizen you must provide proof of your entitlement to study in Australia. This would usually be a certified copy of a Student Visa or an Australian Permanent Resident Status Visa.

Four sets (e.g. 1 original and 3 photocopies) of both the application form and the attachments are required, and in order to minimise paper use, double-sided photocopying is recommended.

To assist with administration costs, if you are applying for the Jean Gilmore/Thenie Baddams/Daphne Elliott bursaries, one $Aust12 (twelve Australian dollars) lodgement fee is required to cover these bursaries. Methods of payment are described on page 2 of the information sheet at the front of the application form.

8. What if I can’t gather all of the material to send to you before applications close?

In some cases you may be unable to obtain official documentation, such as a copy of enrolment confirmation, or extension of a visa, in time to send with your application. In these cases you must submit the application and all other available documentation by the closing date (shown on information sheet, and include with your application a note listing the items that you are still chasing up. These items must be submitted as soon as possible. If the missing material has not been received by the time the selection committees meet to decide on the winners (this may be any time between early May and early June) you will not be eligible to win a bursary.

First, it is essential that you carefully read the double-sided information sheet at the front of the application form. Hopefully, this web site will provide you with answers to any other questions you may have. If you feel that you need any other assistance to understand or complete the application form, we suggest that you request assistance at your university. Most universities have offices whose purpose is to provide students with information about applying for scholarships.

The number varies from year to year and from bursary to bursary, but usually totals over 200. We have changed the eligibility criteria over the years in order to better target the funds, and to try to ensure that the workload for the volunteers who judge the bursaries does not become unmanageable. For example, in 1994 we introduced the requirement that applicants for bursaries to assist with research-based degrees had completed at least one year of research. This meant that referees were better able to comment on the abilities of the applicants.

Academic merit is the selection criterion carrying the most weight. This is followed by financial need, and how essential the purpose for which the bursary will be used is to the progress or completion of the degree. Those two criteria have roughly equal weight. Finally, in order to separate people on a shortlist for the postgraduate bursaries, we may consider the extent to which people undertake activities and interests outside of their degrees. Incomplete applications (e.g. with attachments missing) will not be considered in the selection process.

First, choose two referees. They should be people who can comment on your academic work and the purpose for which you have applied for the bursary. If you are undertaking a research-based degree, one of them must be your research supervisor. Then, give each referee one of the sheets attached to the back of the application form and ask them to complete it and post it, with three copies, to The AFUW-SA Inc. Trust Fund, GPO Box 634, Adelaide SA 5001. Please ensure that your referees send us their reports by 7th March, or the first working day after that (10 March in 2008).

Successful applicants will be sent letters by the end of June. Unsuccessful applicants should receive letters in early July, and the list of winners will be updated on this web site. South Australian-based winners will be invited to attend the annual dinner of AFUW-SA Inc., where cheques and certificates will be presented prior to the commencement of dinner.

The bursaries are awarded by the end of June in one year and are to be spent by the end of June in the following year. In some cases, you may need to spend money on an important purpose (eg. go on a research trip, purchase equipment) prior to the bursaries being awarded in June. This need not deter you from applying for a bursary. Some successful applicants have used the bursary to repay loans they took out in order to fund such expenditure. However, you should be aware that the bursary selection process is very competitive, so you should not assume that your application will be successful when you commit to such expenditure.

AFUW is a national organisation of graduate women, with branches in all states and territories of Australia. It is one of 72 member national federations and associations of the International Federation of University Women (IFUW). With more than 180,000 women graduate members, IFUW has representation as a non-government organisation at the United Nations and other related bodies.

AFUW works for the advancement and equality of opportunity of women worldwide through initiatives in education, friendship and peace. AFUW places priority on providing financial assistance for women to undertake university studies in Australia and overseas.

Full membership of AFUW is open to all women residents of Australia who have graduated from a university or recognised equivalent tertiary institution. Members enjoy fellowship and intellectual stimulation through: a triennial conference of members; guest speaker meetings; and seminars/workshops on topical issues. In South Australia, many members help to raise the funds that are distributed as bursaries, by volunteering time to assist the academic dress hire service.

For more information about AFUW, refer to http://www.afuw.org.au, or http://www.flinders.edu.au/womensinfo/AFUW/index.html, or write to AFUW (SA) Inc., Mail Box 16, University of Adelaide SA 5005.

You do not need to be a member of the Australian Federation of University Women (AFUW) in order to apply for the bursaries provided by The AFUW-SA Inc. Trust Fund. However, you may need to be a member in order to apply for bursaries offered by other state or territory organisations of AFUW. For more information about the scholarships offered by other associations, refer to

Trustees of The Australian Federation of University Women – South Australia Inc. (AFUW-SA Inc.) Trust Fund operate an academic dress hiring service, based at the University of Adelaide. AFUW-SA Inc. members and friends provide their services on a voluntary basis. (Most of the work involves fitting students with their gown, hood and mortar board just prior to their graduation ceremony, and then putting these items away when they are returned.) At least 75% of the income earned by the Trust Fund each year (raised mostly by the academic dress hire service and partly from interest on investments) is distributed in the form of bursaries, with the remainder adding to the investment base. If you would like to find out more about volunteering, please